Minnesota Crop News

Curt Burns, a farmer and independent crop consultant from south central Minnesota joins Dave and Seth for a chat about the 2024 crop and soybean harvest. Curt farms in the Steward area and supports other farming operations as an independent crop consultant with C.B. Agronomics in Sibley, Renville, McLeod, Meeker, Nicollet, and Kandiyohi Counties.  Dave and Seth chat with Curt about the soybean harvest progress and yields. The exceptionally dry and warm fall conditions have left Minnesota soybeans in an unusually dry condition. This has led to yield losses for the farmer who is selling overly dry soybeans plus significant field losses due to shattering and harvest loss. Curt discusses how the excessive spring and summer rainfall and late drought conditions affected the crop and reports on the soybean yields farmers are seeing in his region. Curt also chats with Seth and Dave about variety selection for both corn and soybean. He's concerned about other activities during this very dry

In this episode of the Nutrient Management Podcast, our panelists discuss liming in detail. What kind of variation is there in liming recommendations? Since pH changes aren’t instant, when is the best time to apply limestone? Is lime application economically justified, and in what circumstances? What should growers know about selecting liming materials? What other bits of advice do our panelists recommend? TRANSCRIPT Guests: Daniel Kaiser, Extension nutrient management specialist (St. Paul) Carl Rosen, Extension nutrient management specialist (St. Paul) Jeff Vetsch, U of M researcher (Waseca) John Jones, Soil Fertility, plant nutrition, and nutrient management research, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Additional resources: Soil test pH and liming: Common questions and answers Lime needs in Minnesota Liming materials for Minnesota soils Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) — Click here to listen to all Nutrient Management Podcast episodes. For the latest nutrien

This week’s University of Minnesota Extension CropCast host Dave Nicolai has as his guest Dr. Tom Peters, Extension Sugarbeet weed specialist for the University of Minnesota and North Dakota State University. Tom provided an update on sugarbeet harvest progress and challenges this growing season for both the Red River Valley and southern Minnesota sugarbeet growing areas. In addition, Tom reviewed the major weed problems, herbicide options and what the future may hold in terms of new herbicide technologies. Finally, Tom provided an in-depth update about his 2024 weed control research programs and recommendations to consider when planning for 2025 weed control in rotated crops in sugarbeet programs. Listen to the podcast What is Minnesota CropCast? Hosts David Nicolai and Seth Naeve discuss the progress and challenges of Minnesota's agronomic crops in this new podcast. They are joined by a diversity of specialists representing all crops and agronomic disciplines to discuss their res

By: Vasudha Sharma, Extension irrigation specialist The number of irrigated acres in Minnesota is increasing as more and more growers look for ways to ensure high crop yields during dry years. This blog post provides an update on an ongoing field research study being conducted at two irrigated corn sites in Minnesota’s central sands region. I will focus on how different reduced irrigation strategies impact nitrate leaching and residual soil nitrate. After four years of data (one wet year and three dry years) at one of the sites, we’ve seen some interesting results on how different irrigation strategies could alter water usage and nitrate leaching losses, saving farmers money and benefiting the environment. Where is this study conducted? A field research study is being conducted at two locations in central Minnesota: The Sand Plain Research Farm in Becker, Minnesota, and the Rosholt Research Farm in Westport, Minnesota. Both sites are situated in the heart of Minnesota’s irrigated acres

  The following is reprinted with permission from Iowa State University Extension. Joshua Michel, Field Agronomist in northeastern Iowa, Iowa State University Extension Harvest season has started across most of the state and according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor , the majority of the state is abnormally dry with pockets of moderate drought in northeastern and southwestern Minnesota. These abnormally dry conditions could enhance the potential for combine and field fires this fall. Low relative humidity levels and high winds will further increase the risk of fires. Fires cause millions of dollars in property damage, including loss of machinery, crops, and time. Unfortunately, injuries to farm workers and firefighters may also occur. Modern combines are powerful machines, which means they can produce excessive amounts of heat. All it takes to start a fire is a single high-temperature source in the engine area or an overheated bearing to ignite some dry plant material. While it’s im

In this episode of Advancing Nitrogen Smart, Melissa Wilson, Extension manure management specialist joins Brad Carlson to discuss fall manure application. What are the most important dos and don'ts of fall application? How much time can nitrification inhibitors buy you after application? What's the optimum soil temperature for application, and what if you can't wait? What are characteristics of manure from different sources, and how can they work to your advantage?  TRANSCRIPT Guests: Brad Carlson, Extension educator (Mankato) Melissa Wilson, Extension manure management specialist (St. Paul) Additional resources: Nitrogen availability of different manure types: What we know and what we are researching Tips for fall manure application and how to avoid nutrient loss Nitrification inhibitors and manure: Do they work? Introducing ManureDB: A new way to view manure variability and trends  Everything manure: Midwest experts answer common questions heading into fall  --- Click h